February 25
THERE SHALL BE A RESURRECTION
-Acts 24:14-16 records the apostle Paul giving an explanation of his hope toward God. He states, … THERE SHALL BE
A RESURRECTION OF THE DEAD, BOTH OF THE JUST AND UNJUST … This statement was also made by Jesus in John 5:28,29, which
states, … Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice, And
shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection
of damnation ( judgment ) … These passages do speak of the general or second resurrection, in which ALL THOSE THAT ARE
IN THE GRAVES SHALL COME FORTH. This resurrection does include just and unjust people. As well, Daniel spoke of this in Daniel
12:2, which states, … And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and
some to shame and everlasting contempt ( the correct translation actually speaks of age-abiding life and age-abiding abhorrence
… The Emphasized Bible ).
-In the book of Revelation, John spoke of a FIRST RESURRECTION that would include only overcomers ( those that did overcome
the beast nature and the carnal mind … Revelation 20:4-6 ). It then goes on to state that THE REST OF THE DEAD LIVED
NOT AGAIN UNTIL THE THOUSAND YEARS WERE FINISHED … This is obviously a BETTER RESURRECTION. The apostle Paul referred
to this resurrection in Hebrews 11:35, which states, … Women received their dead raised to life again: and others were
tortured, not accepting deliverance; THAT THEY MIGHT OBTAIN A BETTER RESURRECTION … Those that are privileged to be
a part of the BETTER RESURRECTION will be those that do play a part in ruling the nations with a rod of iron ( Revelation
2:26,27 ). THEY SHALL HAVE POWER OVER THE NATIONS! THESE ARE THE OVERCOMERS!!! This company shall consist of overcomers from
all ages that did qualify to be a part of the first resurrection. They shall be the very extension of the manifestation of
God to all the earth. They shall be used of God to bring ALL NATIONS UNTO THE FATHER ( Read Psalm 2:8-10 ).
-It is very important that we understand, recognize, and teach the resurrection of the dead. There are some that say that
the resurrection has already taken place. This is error, and is a result of not rightly dividing the Word of truth. The
apostle Paul dealt with this in 2nd Timothy 2:17,18, which states, … Who concerning the truth have ERRED,
SAYING THAT THE RESURRECTION IS PAST ALREADY; AND OVERTHROW THE FAITH OF SOME ( this was spoken in reference to Hymenaeus
and Philetus ) … As well, there are those that deny bodily resurrection altogether. This is a result of spiritualizing
scriptures that are not to be spiritualized. The people that teach this, whether they realize it or not, are following
in the footsteps of the Sadducees. Matthew 22:23 states, … The same day came to Him the SADDUCEES, WHICH SAY THAT THERE
IS NO RESURRECTION … Jesus rebuked them for their incorrect teaching, and told them that THEY DID ERR, NOT KNOWING THE
SCRIPTURES, NOR THE POWER OF GOD ( Matthew 22:29 ) … In addition to all of this evidence, the apostle Paul covered the
topic of resurrection in 1st Corinthians chapter 15. The entire chapter is devoted to this topic. This is how a
portion of it reads from The New Testament In Modern Speech:15:1 But let me recall to you,
brethren, the Good News which I brought you, which you accepted, and on which you are standing,
15:2 through which also you are obtaining salvation, if you bear in mind the words in which I proclaimed it--unless indeed your faith has been unreal from the very first.
15:3 For I repeated to you the all-important fact which also I had been taught, that Christ died for our sins in accordance with the Scriptures;
15:4 that He was buried; that He rose to life again on the third day in accordance with the Scriptures,
15:5 and was seen by Peter, and then by the Twelve.
15:6 Afterwards He was seen by more than five hundred brethren at once, most of whom are still alive, although some of them have now fallen asleep.
15:7 Afterwards He was seen by James, and then by all the Apostles.
15:8 And last of all, as to one of untimely birth, He appeared to me also.
15:9 For I am the least of the Apostles, and am not fit to be called an Apostle--because I persecuted the Church of God.
15:10 But what I am I am by the grace of God, and His grace bestowed upon me did not prove ineffectual. But I labored more strenuously than all the rest--yet it was not I, but God's grace working with me.
15:11 But whether it is I or they, this is the way we preach and the way that you came to believe.
15:12 But if Christ is preached as having risen from the dead, how is it that some of you say that there is no such thing
as a resurrection of the dead?
15:13 If there is no such thing as a resurrection of the dead, then Christ Himself has not risen to life.
15:14 And if Christ has not risen, it follows that what we preach is a delusion, and that your faith also is a delusion.
15:15 Nay more, we are actually being discovered to be bearing false witness about God, because we have testified that God raised Christ to life, whom He did not raise, if in reality none of the dead are raised.
15:16 For if none of the dead are raised to life, then Christ has not risen;
15:17 and if Christ has not risen, your faith is a vain thing--you are still in your sins.
15:18 It follows also that those who have fallen asleep in Christ have perished.
15:19 If in this present life we have a *hope* resting on Christ, and nothing more, we are more to be pitied than all the rest of the world.
15:20 But, in reality, Christ *has* risen from among the dead, being the first to do so of those who are asleep.
15:21 For seeing that death came through man, through man comes also the resurrection of the dead.
15:22 For just as through Adam all die, so also through Christ all will be made alive again.
15:23 But this will happen to each in the right order--Christ having been the first to rise, and afterwards Christ's people rising at His return.
15:24 Later on, comes the End, when He is to surrender the Kingship to God, the Father, when He shall have overthrown all other government and all other authority and power.
15:25 For He must continue King until He shall have put all His enemies under His feet.
15:26 The last enemy that is to be overthrown is Death;
15:27 for He will have put all things in subjection under His feet. And when He shall have declared that "All things are in subjection," it will be with the
manifest exception of Him who has reduced them all to subjection to Him.
15:28 But when the whole universe has been made subject to Him, then the Son Himself will also become subject to Him who
has made the universe subject to Him, in order that GOD may be all in all.
-Here are some more thoughts on the resurrection from Dr. Stephen Jones: "Paul makes it clear that the resurrection
of Jesus Christ is the pattern for our own resurrection as well. The only reason we shall be raised from the dead is because
Christ was raised as the Pattern Son.
Paul’s argument shows the inherent contradiction of this Sadducee doctrine. If there is no such thing as resurrection,
but that man simply goes to heaven when he dies, then Jesus was not raised. But if Jesus was not raised, then we are yet in
our sins, because he “was raised again for our justification” (Rom. 4:25). So the only way we attain the
promise of God is if Jesus was raised from the dead. But if He was, it is the pattern of our own resurrection as well. That
is the path of Paul’s logic.
Most Christians today do not hold the Sadducee position which denies the resurrection of the dead. Yet there are teachers
today, claiming to be Christians, who do deny this. Like the Sadducees, they do not comprehend the importance of “the
redemption of our body” (Rom. 8:23). Paul calls it “the adoption” and the great “hope” of
the Christian (Rom. 8:24). Without this “hope,” death is the end, and we are of all men most to be pitied. Some
believe that the first resurrection is merely the life that a Christian receives when he is justified by faith. To support
this view, they cite scriptures exhorting us to “die daily” and be raised in newness of life. This view attempts
to deny the bodily resurrection of the dead in favor of a more spiritualized view. This was the view of the Sadducees who
denied the resurrection altogether (Matt. 22:23; Acts 4:1, 2).
A variation of this view teaches that the first resurrection is spiritual, but the second is physical. This variation
does not actually deny the resurrection of the dead, but these do not understand that there are two bodily resurrections that
are yet future. I believe that when the full picture is known, as revealed in the rest of this booklet, it will be apparent
that neither of the spiritualized views above are accurate. On the individual, personal level we are indeed to “die
daily” and be raised with Christ daily. But this is only a type and shadow of resurrection. Our justification by faith
is not resurrection itself.
The spiritualizing of resurrection has its roots in the Greek world view; the idea of the bodily resurrection has its roots
in the Hebrew world view. I believe that if we go back to the beginning and study the foundations of these views, we can come
to the truth of the matter." ( The Purpose Of Resurrection, Dr. Stephen Jones http://www.gods-kingdom.org/Resurrection/PurposeResurrection.html )
-IN LIGHT OF ALL THIS, WE HAVE HOPE TOWARD GOD!-